


Childish Fear

by ItalianSushi



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with no happy ending, Blood and Gore, Happy halloween, Murder, Near Death Experiences, Platonic England/America - Freeform, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 04:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5116028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItalianSushi/pseuds/ItalianSushi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alfred lives with his older brother, Arthur, who leaves for work. Nothing too bad, he'd only be gone for a few hours. The noises outside are probably just the bratty kids across the street, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Childish Fear

"Alfred! I'm heading out for a bit, will you be alright?"

Alfred almost rolled his eyes at Arthur, even if he was just worried, it was so repetitive. This neighborhood was so sleepy, of course he'd be fine. The Brit never left for long anyways. The Sun hadn't even set yet.

"Yeah, Artie! Be careful!" He replied after lowering the volume of his game so Arthur could hear him, only to turn it back up as soon as his caretaker left. Shooting zombies was somehow more fun when it was just him. The shades on his window were drawn shut, blocking out the Sun to make sudden jump scares scarier. Not that they were good to begin with. This game was more to waste time. Once he beat it, he could sell it and finally have enough money to buy Until Dawn. Now that was a good game.

Hours later he has stopped playing for the night and turned in the lights in the house. It was eight at that point, Arthur wasn't home yet. No big deal, really. It's only been two hours.

Alfred headed into the kitchen to heat up something for dinner, but found nothing to heat up. God knows he wasn't going to cook. Popcorn and candy would have to do for now. Arthur couldn't cook either.

The American plopped onto the couch with his good and flipped on the TV, turning it to a horror show in the spirit of October. Like his game, he didn't find it very scary, but fairly  entertaining.

Half way through the program, he was startled by the sound of his phone vibrating next to him.

"Yo." He regained himself and answered in his slang, "Oh, hey Artie, what's up?"

He stayed silent for a bit, "Naw, I understand, dude. I'll be fine for a few more hours. Don't even worry about it, just buy me some take-out tomorrow, we don't have anything to heat up here. Yeah, alright, see you in a few."

Alfred sighed as soon as he hung up the phone, "What the hell am I supposed to do for a few hours?"

He watched tv until his mind went numb and ate the rest of his candy, but that was only twenty minutes later. He was at a loss as to what to do. Eventually he just grabbed his phone and started scrolling through his social media, not even paying attention to it. Anything to keep him occupied.

His head whipped up as he heard a banging sound coming from outside. At first he thought it was a raccoon, but it didn't sound like a trash can falling over. It sounded like a balloon being popped.

"Must be some bratty kids or something." He muttered, remembering how last years the triplets from across the street pranked him a week before halloween. They must be trying the day before. That's why he ignored the sound the second and third time.

By the fourth pop, Alfred was agitated and completely done with whatever was going on. He shoved his phone in his pocket and ran to the door, swinging it open. There were no kids outside messing with him. Nobody was out there. He even went down the driveway to look. Nothing.

Was I just hearing things? I must be more tired than I thought.

Alfred went back inside, locking the door behind him. The phone came back out of his pocket and he was back to what he was doing before he was interrupted. That, of course, got boring after a while, so he decided to call his friend.

More specifically, he called Ivan. Ivan was a nice guy, fun to talk to at least.

“Privyet, this is Ivan!”

Alfred chuckled and replied, “Yo, Ivan! What’s up?”

“Oh, hi Alfred! Sorry, I accidentally cracked my screen and I couldn’t see your caller ID.” Ivan said cheerfully, but still apologetically, “But, why do you call?”

“Arthur had to go out for work business, and I got bored, so I called you.”

Meaningless conversation went on for a while, the temperature outside growing to a cold and windy one. It got cold easier nowadays, and it sucked because Alfred prefered the heat. Especially because he had known heat all his life before Arthur moved them more up North. They talked, only up until they were cut off by a loud sound. The sound couldn’t even be avoided, because Ivan had heard it too and grew concerned.

“I heard that a while ago, don’t worry about it, Ivan.” Alfred replied, “I had looked and there was nobody there, it was probably those bratty kids from last year.”  
  
“If you say so.”

But, no more than five minutes later, it happened again. At this point, Alfred was convinced it was the kids and had had enough. With Ivan still on the phone, he marched to the door and swung it open, yelling at the ‘kids’ to knock off whatever they were doing, but Ivan heard him stop yelling, and a gasp come from Alfred.

“Alfred, Alfred, what’s wrong?”

“Ivan, this may sound crazy, but there’s a clown.” Alfred replied, swallowing thickly and slamming the door shut, locking the top and bottom.

“What? Did you say a clown?”

“Yeah, a clown!” Alfred breathed out, “It just, it was just in the driveway, smashing something on the ground. But, it looked right at me, Ivan! I swear it smiled and- Oh God-”

There was loud banging, like someone was trying to break the front door down. This drove Alfred over the edge, and down into a panic. Clowns weren’t even that bad, but he hadn’t told Ivan everything. He swore he saw a body being crushed and smashed. A small one, like one of the bratty kids.

“Oh God, oh god, shit Ivan what do I do, oh god-”

“Alfred! Alfred, calm down and stay on the phone, okay? Go hide somewhere, I’ll call the police. For now just stay on the phone and hide.” Ivan was clearly panicking as well, because Alfred didn’t scare easily. He was Alfred, the ‘hero’. The same Alfred that said how hero’s save everybody and fear nothing. Well, that same Alfred was on the other end hyperventilating from what he just saw and scrambling upstairs to hide in the attic. Their attic was small, but also had a closet in the corner, along with a window off to the side. He tried to cling to the hope that that’d do until the police showed up. Because he somehow knew the door was going to go down, which it did the second he closed the closet door.

He stayed on the phone, taking short, shaky breathes. Alfred knew that was a body. That was a motherfucking body in the driveway, and he was next if he was found. The police had to show up, they just had to. He didn’t speak, and neither did Ivan. Who knew how good that guys hearing was?

There was stomping everywhere, first downstairs, then soon upstairs. His lungs hurt from the lack of air, but if he breathed too heavily, he’d be found. What if that guy was a serial killer and not just a killer? How could someone be so crazy to kill a young child? How old were the brats anyways? Seven, eight, maybe nine at most? That creep must be crazy, especially dressing as a clown to do this.

The door to the attic was roughly opened and Alfred continued trying to make little to no noise, if he could. The man’s steps were slow, creating tension as he took forever to reach the closet. Shit, what was he supposed to do? Shit shit shit this isn’t good. How far is the window? Could he make it if he kicked the man?

Lost in his broken thoughts, he was brought back when he heard something open and suddenly cold air was forced upon him. He had to look up, there was nothing else to do. Nowhere to go, he had to look up.

There it was, the sickening white and red make-up, with a painted smile and red hair, it looked fuzzy to touch. His clothes were brightly colored, but he could tell there were blood splatters on those clothing. It didn’t blend in with yellow and white. It was painfully obvious that he had blood on him. His teeth seemed sharp to Alfred, maybe because he could barely see as it was, but they just didn’t seem human. The man was human, but how could a person do that? To anybody? A child? Wasn’t he a child too? Well, a teenager, but still a child in some aspect.

The clown’s smile grew, becoming more sinister as he leaned closer and Alfred choked out a sob. There was nowhere to go, he couldn’t hide. The attic was a dumb place to hide anyways, and now he had to pay the price.

“What a fun game, would you not agree?” His breathe smelled foul, like death and alcohol, and it made Alfred gag, “But I have found you, because you are not good at this game. Hide and seek has always been my favorite.”

The tip of a knife ran down Alfred’s chest and stomach, as if to see how far he could push Alfred before killing him. If he even killed him here, but it was working. Alfred was terrified and the thoughts of Ivan and the police were gone with the wind. It was just him and the clown. Nobody was coming to save him, he was as good as dead.

“Tut, but it is a shame, that you were the only one home. . I cannot wait for your brother to return.”

“H-h-how do y-you know that-?” Alfred stuttered out.

“What sort of display shall I leave for him? Should it be out in the yard, where he can see as soon as he arrives? Or perhaps in his room when he goes to head to bed? Endless possibilities..” The clown pressed harder against his stomach and Alfred hiccuped. It was starting to hurt, and knowing this maniac just from his talking, this wasn’t going to be quick. He needed out, he didn’t want this. He didn’t want this. He needed to get out. He needed out, now. Out, out, out. Away from here, he needed-

“YOU BITCH!”

In an instant, without even realizing it, Alfred had kicked the man backwards with force he shouldn’t of had, sending him out of the way and giving Alfred the chance to run. Reality was coming back to him and he could hear Ivan still on the phone trying to figure out what was going on. The phone! The phone, the phone could break the window!

He darted to the window and threw his phone out of it, and knew it was the only way. As he tried to be quicker than the man, he cut himself badly on the shards of glass, and might as well have broken something falling down from said window. As long as he could run it was fine. He needed to get out of here.

The safest bet was the forest, but he didn’t know how long he’d make it. He wasn’t even moving very well. He wasn’t unhealthy, but anyone would be slow while they’re losing blood and having no idea where they’re going. It was dark and there was no lights anywhere. Tree branches scraped his face and he kept tripping over roots, barely able to get up, the only motivation being the sound of the man right behind him. On one fall, he lost his glasses, but there was no way in hell he was stopping. The glasses must have been broken as he got up anyways. Even the little he could see in the blanket of darkness was taken away as everything was a big blur to him. He fell one last time, but couldn’t get up. Because by the time he had begun to lift himself, he could feel it. The man. He could feel the man turning him onto his back. He screamed and could feel the knife plunging deep into the top of his stomach and being dragged down, as if to spill his guts. He screeched and cried, somebody end this. Somebody stop this.

“ALFRED!”

The knife was taken out and the man was running now, but the pain didn’t stop. It still felt like he was being stabbed.

Over and over and over and over and over and-

“ALFRED! WHERE ARE YOU!?”

“I-Ivan..?” Alfred coughed and began screaming, “IVAN, IVAN HELP ME! IVA. .”

It was too much, he couldn’t do it. How pathetic. It didn’t even take long for him to be killed. Those online tests were right, he’s the first to die in a horror movie.

“ALFRED! Alfred, oh my God, Alfred are you-” Ivan coughed as well, was the smell too much?

“Alfred, listen to me, okay? We need to get out of here, please tell me you’re still alive. C’mon, Alfred, you’re strong-”

“I. . van. .” It stung, it ached, he wanted it gone.

“Shhh, shhh, Alfred, I know it hurts-” Ivan stopped, looking around for any sign of the man, before carefully scooping the American up, flinching at the terrified and painful screams coming from him, “Alfred, Alfred look at me, it’s me, he’s not here anymore, Alfred-”

There wasn’t any time, the bleeding was too much. Of course Alfred won’t look at him, he can’t. He needs the hospital, now. Ivan was forced to ignore Alfred, as he begged and screamed and cried. It wasn’t as simple as I’ll kiss your forehead and hug you and you’ll feel better. No. Alfred was dying. Only half an hour ago he was fine, now he was dying. What the hell would Arthur think if Alfred didn’t survive this and it was all Ivan’s fault for not being quick enough?

______________________________________________

**  
**  


Ivan had waited for Arthur for a long time, but he didn’t showed up at first. Arthur needed to hear this in person, and the fact that it was his only family didn’t make this any better. Arthur should have been the last one, not Ivan. He didn’t deserve it, because if he had just taken Alfred right away to the hospital, it’d be different. The reckless Alfred would still be laughing at stupid cartoons on the TV, and still mix up orders at his fast food job, and still smile at him when things got bad. Where would Ivan find somebody so imperfect, and perfect ever again? He wouldn’t. Because Alfred was his only one.

Maybe it was better that he never confessed to Alfred, because, then Alfred wouldn’t know the burden and feel guilt about giving up on living. Just holding him close one last time, did that show how much he loved and cared about him? How much things wouldn’t be the same? Did he even understand how much he meant to them, or did he still have beliefs of being a nuisance? Because he never was. Alfred was perfect.

“Ivan!”

Crap, there he was. The British man who raised an angel. The young man who loved Alfred more than anything, who was most likely under the impression that Alfred was okay. That it wasn’t as bad as he thought. That Alfred would be fine and he could recover.

“Ivan, thank God, the doctors aren’t telling me anything!” Arthur said, running into the room.

_No, no, why can’t the doctors do it? Don’t make me do this please._

“Ivan?”

_Arthur I’m so sorry._

“Ivan, why are you crying?”

_Because I can’t do this!_

“Ivan, where’s Alfred?”

_No_

__

“Ivan?”

_I couldn’t save him, I’m so so sorry, please, go away-’_

“Ivan?”

 

“HE’S DEAD, ARTHUR-”

“Iva-”

“HE’S DEAD AND I COULDN’T SAVE HIM! HE’S GONE, AND YOU WEREN’T EVEN HERE TO TELL HIM GOODBYE-”

“Alfred’s. .”

“AND WHY-”

“. . dead.”

Arthur chuckled, then he was laughing. Tears were streaming down his face, and he was soon sobbing, and while Ivan was trying to apologize, to console him, he was just screaming at him to shut up. People were staring and whispering among each other, but Arthur didn’t notice, and Ivan didn’t care. Arthur was losing it. He was taking this harder than Ivan was. Does this make Ivan a bad person? No, at least he hoped not. But, Arthur was legitimately losing his mind.

“Hey. .”

He just kept crying.

“A-arthur. . You know we’re here for you, right? I really miss him too, but, there are people who’ll listen and help you move on-”

If looks could kill, Ivan would have been more dead than Alfred. Arthur’s eyes were ablaze with anger and sadness, his voice cracking and choking as he yelled, “NO! NO, YOU’LL SEE! HE’S NOT DEAD. I’LL BRING HIM BACK, DAMMIT.”

“Arthur! This isn’t what Alfred-”

“I’LL BRING HIM BACK, I’LL BRING HIM BACK, AND THAT FUCKER WILL DIE!”

 **  
** Ivan kicked Arthur, causing him to fall over and he walked over to the nurse to help him make Arthur a therapist appointment. He was already too far gone, and Ivan knew he was going to try black magic to bring Alfred back. It wouldn’t work, Arthur needed help. Alfred was dead, and he needed to move on. He’d heal, but he wasn’t so sure about Arthur.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween everybody! I rushed and made this in a day, but I'm proud of it, this is my first horror fanfiction. Also! Sequel where Arthur brings Alfred back, yay or nay?


End file.
